NEW DELHI: US Vice President Kamala Harris, in her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referred to Pakistan’s role in terrorism and urged Islamabad to act on terror groups so that India’s and America’s security is not impacted.
“When the issue of terrorism came up, the Vice President suo motu referred Pakistan’s role in that regard. She asked Pakistan to take action so that this will not impact US security and that of India. She agreed with the Prime Minister’s briefing on the fact of cross-border terrorism and the fact that India has been a victim of terrorism for several decades now and on the need to rein in, and closely monitor Pakistan’s support for such terrorist groups,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said in a press briefing after the meeting.
During the meeting, Modi and Harris decided to boost bilateral ties and discussed various issues of regional and global importance, including Afghanistan and Indo-Pacific. In a joint press interaction with Modi, Harris said it was important that India and the US protect democracies in the best interest of their people.
“As democracies around the world are under threat, it is imperative that we defend democratic principles and institutions within our respective countries and around the world. And that we maintain what we must do to strengthen democracies at home and it is incumbent on our nations to of course protect democracies in the best interests of people of our countries,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, the PM held a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison where the leaders discussed defence, energy and other issues. “They discussed a wide range of subjects aimed at deepening economic and people-to-people linkages between India and Australia,” the PMO tweeted.
According to a statement by the MEA, the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the ongoing negotiations on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. They welcomed former Australian PM Tony Abbott’s visit to India by as Special Trade Envoy and noted the commitment of both sides to achieve an early harvest announcement on an interim agreement by December.